January 2019 Book Wrap Up

January has come and gone, and during that time I managed to finish FOUR books!

Ohn-bee-lieva-bohl!

Okay, so here’s a list of all four books I read, my ratings, and WHY I gave them said ratings. Feel free to agree or disagree with whatever I write about these books, and let me know in the comments what you think about these books.

Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

Rating : 🌷🌷🌷🌷

(There may be some minor spoilers. Tread carefully.)

Ah, the sequel to Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. A book I have been eager to read ever since I finished the first one. I loved the first book! I got to know Monty, Percy, and Felicity and immediately fell in love with all three of them. I especially liked Felicity’s character. An avid reader, defiant of societal norms, and is quick to action whenever it is needed. I found that I could relate to her in a lot of ways, which got me very excited when I knew the sequel was going to focus on her instead of MErcy.

Unfortunately, I found it wee bit difficult to read this sequel. I don’t know if I just wans’t ready to read it yet, or if Mackenzee Lee somehow changed her way of writing (to better fit the narrative focusing on Felicity), but I really had some difficulty getting through the book. Compared to how I breezed through the first one, this was a bit of a slow read for me. It did start to get interesting half-way / more than half-way through the book, when Felicity found herself on a mission to save dragons alongside a childhood friend and a Muslim pirate!

I give this FOUR TULIPS out of FIVE. It’s still an enjoyable read, and if you’re hoping to see MErciin this book, you will be delighted to know that they do appear for a good amount of time.

This Savage Song & Our Dark Duet

Rating : 🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻

I started the year right by reading a VE Schwab book in January. Man, oh man. I don’t know why I’ve put off reading this duology for so long!

This Savage Song begins by bombarding you with information about Verity and its resident monsters (with little to no explanations), which, I admit, jarred me a little bit. But once you get past this stage and start piecing all the information together, you will be in for an action-packed ride. This Savage Song tells the story of Kate Harker and August Flynn, both of whom have to decide who and what they need to be in order to save their city, their loved ones, and themselves. The adventure continues in book 2, Our Dark Duet, where Schwab unfailingly continues to keep up the action and adrenaline.

I give TSS 4.5 Violins, and ODD 5 Violins, and the whole series a total of 5 Violins. Schwab never disappoints me.

The Bride Test (ARC)

Rating : ✈️✈️

Lastly, I read an Advanced Reading Copy of The Bride Test by Helen Hoang. I got to read this ARC by joining The Royal Polar Bear Reads’ Travelling Book event! This was the first Travelling Book I joined so it was all very exciting. Sadly, I did not like The Bride Test as much as our host and other participants did. I will be explaining why I didn’t like it very much in the following paragraphs so FAIR WARNING, there will be SPOILERS.

Why I didn’t like the book:

From the get-go, the book already struck a chord with me, but in a negative way. The beginning of the book shows Khai’s mother in Vietnam looking for a bride-to-be for his son who lives in the US. Coming from a Chinese family, I am no stranger to “arranged meet-ups/marriages” topics (which we call kai xiao), and I have always abhorred the concept. It was also stated in the book that Khai did not like this idea but only went through with it to appease his mother, and to get it over with. To some, maybe this is “the start of something that will eventually blossom into some great romance“, but for me it is just someone else sticking their unwanted nose in my business.

I was warned beforehand that the book was going to have some adult content or smut. I heeded the warnings but it still surprised me a little bit when I got to those parts because the book’s synopsis and cover make the book seem like your typical YA contemporary. Also, the whole book could do away with the smut. Seriously, it was unnecessary. Personally, it would have been better if the author had done away with them. The story would have done fine without it.

The ending seemed rushed. Everyone’s happy ending just conveniently happened in one event. Like, literally, EVERYTHING happened during the last few pages of the book. After everyone got their happy endings, the book ends. Like, WHAT? There is an epilogue, though, but still… And I didn’t go into too much detail so that those who wan’t to read the book even after reading my minor spoilers can still find out for themselves what happened at the end of the book.

To be fair, Helen’s writing style is good. I did not have a hard time reading it, which helped me finish the book fast enough so that I was still on schedule to have the book delivered to the next reader.

And that is it for my January wrap-up! Hope everyone had a good bookish January, and let’s all look forward to our February reads! Cheers, you guys!

Great posts! I loved The Gentleman’s Guide, but I gotta admit, I didn’t love The Lady’s Guide nearly as much. And I totally agree with your opinion on The Bride Test. It all felt so awkwardly rushed and unrealistic. And the book really could have gone without any smutty scenes. Also, I absolutely love the pictures you take! They’re so aesthetically pleasing!